Gauge line holder



IN V EN TOR.

Kid/#544472, AT To QM 5Y5 Jan. 12, 1954 A. J. MASTRELLA GAUGE LINE HOLDER Filed July 11, 1952 ANGELO J .MASTRELLA mazq 6mym Patented Jan. 12, 1954 PATENT OFFICE P GAUGE; LINE AngeloIJfMastrella, Rochester,"N.'Y. v.-A1:'plicuiii'on[July111, 1952,:SeflaliN0.;2-98,2'37i 3.:Claims- (a es-cs5) l his invention relates. massag -l n 11916133! nd-mote pa cul rly, :ha reie ence o a holder of the type stated adaptedgartioularly fonuse in lay ng building blocks.

Inlay ng bui d n blocks, he mason: generally starts a course at opposite ends thereof, thereafterlaying, the 'blocksabetween the. ends of .the ourse. In this connection, it is customary to extend .agage line between theaend blocks, said linevbeingin the-plane .ofixthe upper surface of saidrendaiblocks, and being .tensioned:between the biocksaso 3,8120 be in alignment with theouter edges of said upper surfaces thereof. In this way; themason is enabledtollay' the intermediate blocks of the coursein-ta straight .line.

Heretofore, the practice has .beento lift, the blocks supported upon the endiblooksnf a course tocheilaid, forlthe-purpose of neceivin'gzpegahails, or other devices to the: ends; of theygage linemay zbegsecuredrand .in manyiinstances, the. mason will drive said-devices into the (blocks for the purpose of ancho zingrthe'rgageline-securely.

Obviously, this is a tim-e consuming; undesirahle-methocl of: properly locating-and anchoring aigage line, "and-heretofore, it has heemproposed tol-pmvicle-gage line; anchors oe-ho'lderstwhichwiil perm-it. elimination of themxdesirable practices presently :iollowed, :However, so: far asst sam' aware; :lEhOSfi gage vline holdersheretofore devised have not. found widespread commercial iavor; andllibelieve that. this may be clue tortheia-et that in. many instances;v said.fho'lders .areiundesirablyoomplicated and-expensive. .I.'be1i'eve ,:too; that inlet-her instances, the-failure of the ease line: holders toifind :favor-nommercially; may; be: dueto theifact. that, the holders themselvesme, quine.-.some time in-sot .fa-rzas: mounting the upon the end blocks of a coursexisgconcerned; and;.fic io-.znot;wevemwhen mounted properly; insure thesnropenztensioning of the gagealine in a amane nerwhichwill' causesit to extend with desired; straightnessi-betweenthe end hlocks .ofxtheccourse' to'zhe. laid..

. Accordingly, I propose towprovideaainewgage; linerholder which will: havemonerot thez, disad vantages noted above; this end, the-igage linelholder':constituting: the presentinventionvis formed :from a single :piece: of material, which can be readily fashioned from molded plastic, Wo d; or any other inexpensivesubstancez The: holder: Whiohl have devised, v;E.urther,:iis formed as. to eliminate the: i-necessity of attaching the .l'ui iier. diree.t1y to: thehlock on: which. the-same 1 9; fiwfillDPOHlBd}. the holder' being" adaptedrte b'ex'extendable 11into;wthe':conuentionalopening-pro vided mshe .bioee,,--n;; a ti e -that will-muse the: holder-t to be ,properlyzpositioned wi hout e- Quirement on. the-part of theuser of making sp di stments or sing, devic o anchm' the: holder .to theblock,

I Summarized briefly;;the holderconstituting-the instant. invention is, as noted; above, jQlfmBd from a. single piece of material. shapedrtoxinclude'zabody.- having the characteristics of 1a. Weight,;sa-id body being enerally elongated and preferably rectangular in cross sectionalrconfignratlon; the body being proportioned to extend zdownwardly within the-conventional opening of a: building block. Atone nd of" thea o yfitherer is: :.int e:- grally formed thereupon a pair at wings, said n sbe e at'and: ,copl na i and extend-mafia opposite directionsi fromzthat end iof'theehodyato which they are secured; The'wingsian adapted to bezs nported unontheaoppositerwallsioixthe uilding block, and are-= proportioned isto length: as to extend beyond saidzwalls. .In the block engagingsuriacesrof the-wings; which: S1113?" faceswill. be -coo1anart with the upper surface .ofnthe :block, there;arezformed'transverse: grooves. selectively adapted forextension. therethrou h of arlgage. Iinethustomermit the-use .oftaatjgroove regis ering: with the outer :edge or? the building block. .on which the/holder is supported The free ends: ofpithe-wingsnhave openings; freceiv-ih' the a spindles of: spools-40h which the,.-z gage- :1ine is wound;

Other-objects will :appear; from the following description;v *the claims appended thereto;v and V from-:thexannexed drawing, in:whichlike-refers ence nharacters. designatedike: pants throughout thevseveral 'views, :and wherein:

Figure-172mm: persnectiveaxciew showingtaniaiyg ofxholdersztormed insaccordanoe'with the present invention; :as :said holdersanpnear when? :in use duringxthez-layings0t a course of building blocks; Figure :2 fistan enlargedqsectionalr view: tak n substantiailynon IineJ-ZfiZQQfiFigure' 1;; and

Figune:a3..is an. inverted perspective view-of one of theg-holdersvperser The refereneearnumerai l-iifihasheen applied abuilding block, the blocks illustrated in Figu-re=1= being:siwhollyxconventional;. Thus,:lthe-blocks are provided with :the. usualznpenings iZspaoedi-longit-uzi'inallyaof the blocks-and communicating between the .upper. andalower: surfaces thereof.

The device iconst'ituting the-present invention isillustrated per-.se in Figure-- 3gfland asw i'li he noted; leach holder includes; medially between lts" elongated *bod-yi m4 or'rectangular cross opposite ends; a generally: whichdsmreferably of'square sectional configuration, the body being formed. at one end, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, with an end recess l6 extending inwardly a substantial distance longitudinally of the body. The recess I6 is formed, in this connection, in what can be conveniently termed the free end of the body [4, the other end of the body being solidly formed as best shown in Figure 2, thus to impart to the body the characteristics of a weight.

Integral with the body Id, at the solid end thereof, is a pair of fiat, coplanar wings 18, said wings being relatively elongated and extending laterally of the body in opposite directions, from the end of the body to which they are integrally secured.

In each wing I8 I form a longitudinal series of transverse grooves 20, said grooves being spaced from one another selected distances, so as to accommodate the device to use on building blocks of different widths. As will be noted from either Figure 2 or Figure 3, the series of grooves 28 of each wing begins at a location spaced a substantial distance away from the adjacent side surface of the body I4, said series ending at a location spaced a substantial distance inwardly from the outer or free end of the wing in which the series of grooves is formed. The smooth, ungrooved surface of the wing disposed between the series of grooves 20 and the adjacent side wall of the body I4 is adapted to be supported upon the top surface of the building block (see Figure 2), .the wing being so proportioned as to length as to project laterally of and beyond the wall of the block on'which the wing is supported. Thus, a selected groove 20 is brought into registry with the outer edge of the top surface of the building block, when the device is used.

In the outer end portion of each wing I8, that is, that portion of the wing disposed between the free end edge of the wing and the outer terminus of the series of grooves 20 thereof, I form an opening 22, adapted to receive the spindle 24 of a spool on which a gage line 26 is wound.

In use, the holders appear as shown in Figure 1. Thus, a pair of identically formed holders is employed, one of the holders being supported upon one end block In of a course to be laid, and the other holderbeing supported in the other end block In of said course. The body i4 is extended downwardly within a selected opening l2 of the block ID on which the holder is positioned, and due to the weight of the body, the wings afiixed rigidly to said body will be. urged downwardly into frictional engagement with the roughened upper surface of the associated block ill. Thus, the necessity of special fastening devices whereby the holder is secured to the block is obviated.

Depending upon the width of the block, a selected groove 20 is brought into registry with the outer edge of the top surface of the block, and the gage line is extended about one side edge of the wing, through said groove, the gage line extending between the wings at opposite ends of the course to be laid, in the manner shown in Figurerl.

It will be understood, in this connection, that the gage line, after being extended between the holders with which it is associated, is tensioned by rotation of the spindles 24 within the openlugs, 22, and if desired, the tension can be retained by wrapping the gage line one or more times about the wings on which said spindles are supported. In any event, the bodies M will, of course, be engaged by those side walls of the openings l2 in which the bodies M are disposed, adjacent the space in which the intermediate blocks of the course are to be laid.

The mason is then enabled to lay said intermediate blocks, the gage line providing the desired guide whereby the blocks will be laid in a straight line.

Important characteristics of the invention may now be readily noted. As will be seen, the holder constituting the present invention is so designed as to permit its manufacture at relatively low cost, the holder having no moving parts, and being easily formed from a single piece of material. Additionally, the holder is adapted to be used not only on building blocks of the type illustrated in the drawing, but also on tiles of various sizes. In each instance, the use of the holders is the same, and not only eliminates the necessity of lifting end blocks or driving anchoring elements into the blocks, but also allows the holders to be mounted upon or removed from the blocks on which they are supported with maximum speed and ease.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A gage line holder for use in laying building blocks, comprising a single piece of material shaped to include a weighted body intermediate its ends with said body proportioned'to extend downwardly within the opening of a building block, said holder including fiat, coplanar wings extending laterally in opposite directions from the upper end of the body, the weight of said body being adapted to exert a downward pull on said wings tending to engage the undersides thereof frictionally with the upper surface of said block in planes common to that of the upper surface of the block, each of said wings having in its underside a plurality of transverse line-receiving grooves grouped side by side within an area spaced inwardly both from said body and from the free end of the wing, for alignment of a selected groove with an adjacent side edge of said block, the free ends of said wings being'apertured to receive the spindles of spools on which a gage line is wound.

2. A gage line holder for use in laying building blocks, comprising a single piece of material shaped to include a weighted body intermediate its ends, with said body being formed to a thickened, rectangular, cross sectional shape and being proportioned to extend downwardly within the opening of a building block, said holder includ ing coplanar wings extending laterally in opposite directions from the upper end of the body, the weight of said body being adapted to exert a downward pull on said wings tending to engage the undersides thereof frictionally with the upper surface of said block in a plane common to that of said upper surface, each of said wings having in its underside a plurality of transverse line-receiving grooves-said grooves being spaced longitudinally of their associated wings with each groove extending fully from one longitudinal edge to the other longitudinal edge of a wing, said grooves being relatively shallow for engaging a gage line in a selected groove while still holding said line in the plane of the upper surface of the block, the grooves of each ring being disposed in a series of closely spaced grooves, spaced inwardly a substantial distance from the opposite ends of the wing.

3. A gage line holder for use in laying building blocks comprising a single piece of material shaped to include a weighted body intermediate its ends, with said body being formed to a rectangular, thickened, cross sectional shape, the body being formed with a downwardly opening recess extending inwardly from the lower end of the body to a location disposed approximately medially between the opposite ends of the body, whereby to concentrate the weight of the body in that portion thereof disposed between the upper end of the body and the inner end of the recess, said holder further including coplanar wings extending laterally in opposite directions from the upper end of the body, the weight of said body being adapted to exert a downward 6 pull on the wings tending to engage the undersides thereof frictionally against the upper surface of said block in a plane common to that of said upper surface, each of said wings being formed with a plurality of transverse line-receiving grooves in its underside, the grooves of each wing being disposed in a series spaced inwardly from the opposite ends of the wing, each groove being of shallow formation so as to effect the engagement of a gage line within a groove while retaining the gage line in a plane common to that of the upper surface of the block, the free ends of the wings being apertured to receive the spindles of spools on which said gage line is wound.

ANGELO J. MASTRELLA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,630,475 Elder May 31, 1927 2,215,663 Frisk Sept. 24, 1940 2,562,597 Breuninger July 31, 1951 2,592,717 Mann Apr. 15, 1952 

